what do you do when the TCC comes for you?

how Ukraine's conscription centres are kidnapping unwilling men and forcing them to war.

Good day, spectators,

And, it usually happens when you’re least expecting it. You’re walking down the street, perhaps on your way back from the shop, milk in hand. You hear the sudden rev of an engine behind you, and before you can react, a truck blocks your path. Two large men step out, dressed in military fatigues, and they’re coming straight for you.

You know who they are. You know where you’re going. Fear rises, but it’s not for your life—at least not yet.

Above: Men are kidnapped off the street in broad daylight.

If you’re lucky, people might be around to help. In some cases, locals intervene, as in this video. Their anger is palpable, obviously, they don’t want to see their friends, brothers, or sons dragged away to die.

Crowd protests man being taken away by the TCC and saves him.

But often, the power of the TCC outweighs the will of the crowd. The men are taken anyway, despite protests, and disappear into the machinery of a war that has no end in sight.

TCC manages to kidnap a man despite the crowd protesting.

life after the snatch.

Once you’re in the hands of the Ukrainian Territorial Conscription Centre (TCC), any illusion of choice evaporates. You’re no longer a citizen; you’re a body to be sent to the front to fill a quota. The treatment waiting for you at these centres is brutal. Men are often assaulted, viewed as traitors or cowards for not volunteering earlier.

Conscript is assaulted at a conscription centre.

Some have resorted to desperate measures to resist. In one video, a group of conscripts barricade themselves in their barracks, refusing to go to the front. Their situation is hopeless, but their defiance is telling.

Forced conscripts barricade themselves in the barracks in a last-ditch attempt to not be sent to the front.

Then there are stories of pure bravery. One man recounts his escape from a conscription centre, where he dodged soldiers and crossed the country to avoid capture. His story is both harrowing and deeply insightful.

Video of young man explaining his escape from the TCC and how he probably saved his own life.

the state of a broken nation.

Three years of relentless war have decimated Ukraine’s male population. Hundreds of thousands are dead, many have fled the country and others have simply been annexed by Russia. Recruitment has slowed to a painful trickle, leaving the TCC to scrape the bottom of the barrel—those that don’t want to go, are neutral, or even quietly sympathetic to Russia.

The desperation is also so visible that many soldiers in Ukrainian cities have stopped wearing their uniforms to avoid hostility. A Ukrainian military official describes the situation plainly.

Ukrainian military official explaining why he takes off his uniform in the city. He’s also a leader in ‘Azov.’

Even TCC officials themselves seem exhausted. In one clip, a recruiter, clearly fed up, delivers a scathing indictment in front of crowds of howling people, blaming the government and Zelensky for the mess.

Video of TCC official blaming the government for people’s woes.

what remains?

It is very likely that this war has burned through Ukraine’s most passionate anti-Russia fighters. Those who remain are the unwilling and the unable—men with families, those neutral on the conflict, or those who simply refuse to die in a ditch by drone for a cause they don’t really believe in. As I say, it has been three years of brutal fighting and that has made a lot of Ukrainians ask themselves whether the eastern regions are really worth it. Regions with vast populations of people who consider themselves culturally Russian.

It’s a tragic state of affairs, and it raises an uncomfortable question: what is the point of continuing this war? Ukraine’s population has been gutted. Its cities are battered. Its people live in fear—not just of Russian missiles but of their own government’s desperation to feed the war machine.

Perhaps the most pressing question isn’t whether Ukraine can win—mathematically, which seems increasingly unlikely—but just how many more lives will it lose trying?

And on that thought, I will let you go,

(As always, thanks for reading and please give this post a ❤️ and restack below. Also, let me know what you think in the comments.)

---

the spectacle is only possible because of its committed subscribers. I tackle the geopolitical stories mainstream news channels ignore, distort or simply lie about. Help keep it going and supporting independent journalism by becoming a paid subscriber to get full access to the magazine. Alternatively, buy me a sandwich for 3 euro below! As a young writer, every little bit of help means more than you know.